Movemakers Philly
Hip Hop Home Dojo Hip Hop Dance for Kids Streaming Live Online A note from Mr. Vince to all students In DA Lab! Youth Hip Hop Dance Students Independently Pursuing Excellence We all are experiencing a lot of time at home these days. Many young people are lacking the structure and routine that comes from school and participation in extracurriculars. Participating in a system that is managed by some sort of higher power is often supportive to steady progress. The student is given a greater sense of duty when required to complete a homework task. Similarly, when a teacher hovers over the shoulder of a student, the student feels pressure to execute. It is much more difficult to drop attention from the pursuit of learning, because the teacher is there to ensure that the student sticks on the path. But progress is limited when there is too much dependency on teachers. The true extent to how far any student goes is determined by personal drive to work independently. A hip hop dance student practices waving at home not because a teacher mandates nor because there is the pressures to improve in between classes. The best hip hop dance student practices because of passion and care for the craft. The best hip hop dance students practice because they want to get better for themselves. They set the expectations higher than any outside authority. Individuals with such drive typically excel in noteworthy ways. Their community witnesses and admires their growth, but most importantly the person that is self-motivated to develop experiences the personal satisfaction of being on an evolutionary path that is loaded with purpose. The positive self-affirmation that comes from witnessing oneâs own progress is often tremendously more valuable than receiving the admiration of others. In hip hop dance, personal development requires a consistent home lab experience. The lab in hip hop dance is when the artist develops and tests skills. A bgirl might be interested in developing her backspin. In the lab, she will work on all of her prerequisites and drills that are useful to attaining the backspin. The lab space is where the bgirl experiments and tests her approach until she arrives at a result. Once the result is achieved it is time to move to a new mission and process. â Hip Hop Dance is social and for everyone. But letâs remember that hip hop dance is highly technical and complex as well. A dancer has the capacity to become a virtuoso in hip hop. If a student only relies on dance class for progress, it will become clear that the pace of development is slower. Whether in class, in a cipher or a battle, most dancers are not going to take risks. In these environments dancers will typically play it safe, concentrating on the skills that they already know. Growth in regards to skill acquisition happens by pushing oneself outside of the comfort zone. Often it is easiest to take the risk of stepping into the unfamiliar in the home lab. Itâs in the home lab where a dancer levels up. The dancers that are constantly bringing something new to the class or cipher are clearly cooking up new ideas in their home lab. The dancers that are stagnant have been too reliant on the support of teachers. A good hip hop dancer takes the most that is possible from their teachers and peers, but recognizes that the independent quest is the truest path to excellence. This lesson on the home lab in hip hop is relevant in all façades of learning. Think of how often weâve heard the story of top basketball players claiming that they have risen to their status because of a habit of being the first and last person on the court, practicing alone before and after the scheduled team practice period. There is no hard science to achieving excellence. But very few have the willpower to go the extra length. Movemakers Philly students, on the other hand, stay In Da Lab!
Elana has made a new routine for 13 days in a row. She is exploding with creativity. In the long run, sheâll be able think very quickly on her feet in a number of different scenarios in dance and beyond, because of the hard work in her consistent lab practice.
Toby dances non-stop at home practicing old school hip hop, popping, breaking and more. He is strong in all styles. The only way that he is maintaining a strong level across all of these styles is his structured personal lab practice
Nate is a technician that has been working to develop his personal voice. His dance is loaded with meaning and feeling. He is learning exactly what he wants to say in his dance. He wouldnât be developing so profoundly if he only relied on class time for progress.
I am known mostly as a locker and house dancer. However, I am very interested in growing myself as a popper, specifically as a tutter. Iâve just started my journey in tutting. I am far from the level that I would like to be at. The lab is critical to my development. I would never step into the cipher with the folks in the cipher video shared. I have too much respect for them and the style. First I have to get my lines and positions cleaner. I have to work on the fluidity and complexity of my ideas. Like Nate, I have to determine what I am trying to say with the style. At the moment, I am merely doing crude freestyle experiments in between my primary focus of drilling shapes and patterns. But a dedicated lab practice will get me to where I want to be in time. Patience, consistency and determination are the main ingredients. This is what we teach all of the hip hop dance kids in our live stream online classes. Me practicing the style of Tutting My heros in a tutting cypher:
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Movemakers Philly Hip Hop Home Dojo: Hip Hop Dance for Kids Streaming Live Online A note from MR. Vince to all students Bow, Arrow and Bullseye: Fueling Passion and Determination for Self-improvement through Kids Hip Hop Dance Classes We all are spending more time at home these days in the spring of 2020. For many of us, this is the most time that we’ve ever spent in our houses within a three week period. And more time at home is coming. Being stuck in this way can easily make us restless. We can ease our restlessness by finding good channels for expressing our energy. Of course, we have our obvious go to recreational activities, such as reading a book or playing a game. There are certainly more activities that I haven’t mentioned. But have you considered how your time at home can be used for building yourself, which means finding ways to make yourself better? Let’s imagine an archer, a person who shoots a bow and arrow at a target for sport. A good archer shoots and hits the bullseye, the center mark of a target. Now imagine yourself as an archer and then a skill that you care about as the bow and arrow. Finally, think of the bullseye as a goal that you’d like accomplish with that skill. Being an archer that is working to hit a target is the process for self-improvement. The activity of self-improvement can be one of the most rewarding and fun if we know how to approach it correctly. First we have to find something that we care about. It could be a sport, an artform, a school subject like science, or possibly an activity around the house like cooking. Once you know what you care about, you must determine what you want to do with your passion. Start small and focused, not big and general like being the best break dancer in class. For example, as a break dancer, you might choose that you want your footwork to be smooth and always on beat. But wait, you can’t just start practicing all of the footwork that you know and expect to get to your goal. You’ll likely miss the bullseye. Actually, you’ll probably miss the target entirely. It is important to know the current qualities of your footwork. For example, if you have poor balance in your footwork, how could you ever make it smooth? Or if you are second guessing the steps, how could you ever put them on beat? So you must be self-aware, which means knowing yourself. Who are you in this exact moment? How must you aim yourself so that you line up with the bullseye, so that when you shoot there is a higher chance that you will hit your mark? Once you have a better sense of your current ability it is much easier to take shots at your target. But you’ll have to be determined, because even though you know your passion and you know where you are aiming, you might not hit your target right away. You must keep at it. This is finding the joy in self-improvement. You’re never too young to be aiming and shooting your arrow to hit bullseye. You’re also never too old. But when you are a kid your chances of getting very good at anything you put your mind on are much higher. And if you start to become passionate about something now you’ll likely find more ways to enjoy it when you’re older, likely more than someone that waits until they are an adult to find their passion. Most importantly remember that all activities that you participate in that provide you the opportunity to learn are worth becoming passionate about. You might have somethings that you are more passionate about than others. These will be your focuses. Learning and attaining knowledge is a wonderful gift. Your knowledge is a key. For each thing you’re knowledgeable about becomes another door that you can open. Be determined and motivated to spend time with the various subjects that you have an opportunity to learn. If you conquer the subjects that frustrate you the most, then you’ve experienced the highest level of self-improvement. I challenge all of you stuck at home right now to list 10 activities including schoolwork, hobbies and home chores that you care about. It might even be worth putting a few things that you do not care about on the list so that you can work to improve areas that are your weakness. Once your list is complete, plan how you are going to aim yourself to improve in each of these activities. Have fun! I have a strong feeling that you are going to really like evolved versions of yourself. Some Inspiration: Check out this video of a kid's break dance competition. These kids are probably not to far from your age. They certainly weren’t born doing these cool skills. It took passion and determination for them to get where they are. How can you use passion and determination to improve your hip hop dance skills? Some More Inspiration: Check out these videos of Aidan, a local Philadelphian and a black belt of our friends at Martial Posture. I started teaching Aidan when he was 4. He is now a teenager and one of the most famous acrobatic martial artists in the world. Aidan, even at 4 years old was determined to be the best version of himself. Check him out as an 8 year old and then check him out 5 years later in 2018. Imagine how he has self-improved since 2018. 2020 Aidan is even more amazing! We can all keep getting better as long as we stay with our passions. |